A FORMER Lone Wolf bikie charged with damaging commonwealth property after staging a headline-grabbing two-day rooftop protest at the Villawood detention centre, was released on bail — back to the scene of the alleged crime.
Fatongia Hanisi, 44, and two other men climbed onto the roof during Easter, and fashioned makeshift nooses tied to the roof and threatened to hang themselves if they and others were not released to escape the threat of COVID-19.
The men made a video message to Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, showing one of the men demonstrating how he would put a pillowcase over his head and jump if detainees were not released.
After two days, Australian Border Force officers intervened and the men were removed from the roof, arrested by NSW police, charged and remanded in custody.
Mr Hanisi had been on remand in Parklea Prison until late last month, when he applied for bail.
The Tongan national, in Villawood for three years as a visa overstayer, had been fighting moves to deport him to Tonga when he climbed onto the roof to protest.
A Home Affairs spokesman said the decision to grant bail and the conditions of release were made by the NSW courts.
It is understood that after inquiries by News Corp, Mr Hanisi has been removed from Villawood and is understood to have been flown to a detention centre in Northam, near Perth.
